The Closer Report: May 27, 2009

Saves: 7

Save Opportunities: 7

Nathan is back on track, Franklin saves 12th straight game.
By Todd Farino, www.thecloserreport.com

Sorry about missing yesterday, but it was my sons 5th birthday so I spent the day with a bunch of little kids. Here is the update for the day.


Joe Nathan has been on the hot seat lately with owners, but quickly he has won the hearts of his owners and has saves two straight games. We knew this slide by Nathan was nothing more then a dry spell with a couple of bad appearances in-between it. Nathan is one of the more dominant closers in the game and should be treated as so.

Ryan Franklin is the opposite of Nathan, but has performed out of this world in 2009. When will Franklin go on a dry spell of his own ? Right now he is on fire with a 1.42 ERA and an amazingly low 0.79 WHIP. At this point I would say SELL on Franklin, but in reality HOLD!

Heath Bell is on top of the world right now. He saved his league leading 14th saves and got one out to secure the save. Bell is another outstanding closer and #2 on our top 20 closer ranking.



The #1 closer on the list Jonathan Broxton had a tough day in Colorado. Granted he came into the game in a non-save situation he wasn't able to find the plate at all and ended up walking 3 batters and giving up a run. This is the only problem you have to worry about with Broxton is his lack of control. He he can't find the plate with all his pitches he will have a bad today. Lucky it wasn't worse or moreover a blown save. He needed 38 pitches to get through the 9th inning and only 23 were strikes. Not good for a closer.

Fernando Rodney didn't get the save today, but had a great inning. He gave up two hits, but struck out the side and looked filthy. Frankly, the hits were lucky.

Waldo was found. That's right, Kevin Gregg made a save appearance and believe it or not got his 7th save of the season. He's been on the hot seat with his owners for along time and its about time he got the save. Of course he worried everyone by walking two batters before ending the game.

Matt Lindstrom made what I thought was a great appearance. This was a growing experience for him and he passed. After retiring the first better, Lindstrom then gave up a single and double. He then hunkered down and got the outs he needed without letting a run score. That is growth and we loved it. He also did it without a strikeout. He came into a 6-2 game, so no save.

Other Appearances:
Brian Fuentes (13) - Another easy save. He is outperforming everyones expectations.
Brian Wilson (10) - Looked strong in a quick save.
Francisco Rodriguez - Gave up an unearned run in a non-save opportunity.
Huston Street - Pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout. No save in a 8-6 loss to the Dodgers.
Luis Vizcaino (1)- Pitched 3 innings to get the save. Did strikeout 4.